Apparatus for unreeling wire



Dec. 6, 1960 s. JACKSON ETAL 2,963,240

APPARATUS FOR UNREELING WIRE Filed June 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-l INVENTOR. UNO v. JOHNSON SIMPSON JACKSON m r m Dec. 6, 1960 s. JACKSON EI'AL APPARATUS FOR UNREELING WIRE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1957 FIG-6 INVENTOR UNO V. JOHNSON SIMPSON JACKSON B ATTORNEYS Unite States Patent-6 APPARATUS FOR UNR'EELING WIRE Simpson Jackson, New Boston, and Uno V. Johnson,

Portsmouth, Ohio, assiguors to Detroit Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed June 27, 1951, Ser. No. 668,507

6 Claims. (11. 242 '12s The present invention relates to an apparatus for spooling heavy steel wire, and particularly for spooling such wire directly from blocks or capstans which receive such wire after it is subjected to some treatment such as a galvanizing bath.

Heretofore it has been the practice, in the fabrication of heavy galvanized steel wire, to reel the wire slowly, after the coating action, upon a rotating capstan, and periodically the wire thus coiledis pulled off of the open end of the capstan by hand and cut into loose coils which are then bound and shipped to the customer. The latter, when desiring to incorporate such wire in some end object, such as wire stranding, which is made by machines, will ordinarily first re-coil the wire upon suitable spools, to provide a proper vehicle for the coil and to enable the wire to be dispensed into the processing machine at an even tension which is not possible with the coils in the loose condition in which they are removed from the capstan after the galvanizing or other coating action, and

.made ready for shipment in the wire mill.

The procedure heretofore employed has necessitated several handling steps which have hindered the rapid production of coils of such wire and its rapid utilization in the plant where the wire is further processed.

It is an object of our invention to provide means for spooling wire directly from the capstan upon which it has been and is being wound.

It is a further object of this invention so to spool the .wire in a simple and practical manner that it may be accomplished economically and rapidly.

It is a further object of our invention to eliminate all handling of the wire between the time when it is coated and reeled up on the capstan until after the spooling has been completed and the spooled wire is made ready for shipment.

It is a further object of our invention to provide means which can accomplish the spooling without kinking the wire, since kinking may ruin the wire and renders it unsuitable for its intended end use.

These and other objects are accomplished by our novel apparatus which is especially adapted to be placed upon a conventional capstan, and comprises at least one, and preferably two, rotatable rings separated fromeach other, both of which are mounted about the capstan in such a manner as'to rotate freely in the opposite direction from .the direction of rotation of the capstan. These rings are provided with guide loops through whichthe wire reeled on the capstan is fed and pulledaxially olf of the capstan of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along the lines 3- 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken along the lines 4-4 of Figure 1; V

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the detail of the preferred form of loop or guide which we attach to one point on each of the two rotating rings hereinafter described. l

Figure 6 is a section taken on the lines 6-6 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a perspective detail of an alternative form of loop or guide to that shown in Figure 5. This figure also shows the detail of the manner in which the ends of the ring are joined.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, showing our preferred embodiment, numeral 1 designates a conventional block or capstan on which wire is reeled after being subjected to a galvanizing bath. The block or capstan 1 is constituted of a cylindrical flanged base or pedestal 2 which is solid, and which is mounted upon a driven rotating shaft 3 which extends through the base or pedestal 2 in the axis thereof in the manner shown to an end plate or disc 4.

The capstan further includes a series of ribs 5, usually about four in number, which extend from the periphery of the base '2 in a direction sloping gradually toward the projected axis of the shaft so as to lie in a slightly conical surface. These four ribs terminate in the annular disc 4 through which projects the end 3a of the shaft 3.

In conventional use of the capstan each of the ribs 5 is provided with a clamp 6 which serves to retain the galvanized or coated wire as it is reeled upon the cone defined by the four ribs 5. The capstan thus described is well known to the art and per se forms no part of our present invention.

In adapting such a conventional capstan to our invention, we first remove the clamps 6 and in lieu thereof provide an annular spoked guide member 7 which is secured to the shaft by means of a hub or sleeve 8. This sleeve may be fixedly coupled to the shaft 3 or it may be permitted to rotate relative thereto. However since guide member 7 contains the spokes 9, the annular member 7 cannot rotate through a greater are than that defined by adjacent ribs 5. Guide member 7 also includes a channel defining ring 10 which is secured to the radially outer extremities of each of the spokes 9.

Extending axially toward the base 2 of the capstan We provide a series of inverted U-shaped members 11, one side of each of which is secured, as by welding or bolting, to the radially outermost extremity of each of the spokes 9, and also to the ring 10. The opposite sides of the U-shaped members 11, are welded to and support a wire retaining ring 11a which serves to hold back the wire reeled on the capstan from slipping off toward the free end 4. Ring 10 is recessed at 12 throughout its entire circumference to provide a channel which is adaptedto receive and guide a channel pay-off ring 13.

This ring 13 may be closed, but for ready replacement in case of wear or damage thereto, we have preferred to form it of a heavy length of steel rod, circular in crosssection, which is looped at both ends 14 and 15. These ends are brought together by a nut and bolt 16 as shown in Figures 2 and 7.

At least two of the spokes are provided with means17 to receive the end of a coilspring 18, the opposite end of which is secured to similar means 19 on the base 2. These springs 18 tendto exert a pull on the member7 so that the sides of the U-shaped members 11 adjacent the reeled Wire and the ring 11a will retain the wire on the capstan reel.

The pay-01f ring 13 is provided with a loop .20 whic is Welded thereto and which serves to permit the wire on the capstan reel to pass therethrough.

Although the guide member 7 has been found by us to perform satisfactorily by itself in unreeling the wire from the capstan, occasionally, if any slack occurs in the wire between the guide loop 20 and the spooling machine, a bight in the wire may be formed which will kink and spoil the length being spooled.

To prevent the formation of such a bight, we have found it desirable to provide a second spoked member 21 our invention, the same being well known to the art.

With the apparatus above described, however, we can dispose the spooling machine 25 substantially in the projected axis of the capstan 1. Such a spooling machine may be comprised of a series of rollers 25a to further insure against kinks in the wire, and a level winder 26 which is adapted to feed the wire back and forth across the core 27 of the spool 28 in a plurality of layers.

Such a spooling machine 25 is normally provided with driving means, not shown, which are adapted to rotate the core 27 thereby to exert a pull upon the wire which is being fed to the machine.

In operation the capstan 1 is being continuously rotated by a drive (not shown) which is applied to the shaft 3. The wire 24 is thereby reeled onto the ribs 5. After a number of turns have been laid upon the capstan ribs, the lead extremity of the wire 24 is passed through the loops 20 and 23 of the annular ring 13 and the second spoked guide member 21, respectively, and from thence through the rolls 25a, level winder 26 and onto the core of the spool 28.

- cause kinking prior to the entry of the wire into the rolls 25a on the spooling' machine.

Our device will also be found to unreel wire from the capstan when the latter is not rotating at all, and in stating herein and in the claims that the guide members are rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of turn of the capstan, we mean, as well, the direction in which the capstan, if stationary, was rotated to reel up the wire.

We have found that our novel device can be operated in a relatively rapid manner and can remove the wire from the capstan at a high rate of speed. A capstan, which usually turns relatively slowly as it reels up wire from the bath, may thus be operated until it accumulates a considerable coil, and then the spooling machine may be connected through our apparatus to the free end of the wire and its spooling rapidly accomplished while the capstan is still turning and reeling up additional wire. In this manner, one spooler may be employed with several capstans. By employing our device it becomes unnec- ,essary for the wire on the capstan to be separately removed by hand, and then set up at a later time for feeding into the spooling machine.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for unreeling wire from a capstan, said capstan having a base end, a free end, and a shaft, and ribs extending between said ends and lying in a slightly conical surface to form a reel, said apparatus comprising annular guide means disposed about the capstan ribs, said guide means including an annular member defining a peripheral circular track, the axis of which lies substantially in the axis of the capstan, said member being prevented by the ribs from complete rotation about the capstan axis, said guide means further including a ring mounted to rotate about the track relative to the annular member, and being prevented by the track from axial displacement relative to said member, said ring having an orificed means on its periphery through which latter means the end of the wire first reeled on the capstan is passed, said ring being rotated by pulling said wire end in a direotion opposite to the direction of rotation by which the wire was reeled upon the capstan.

2. The apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein a second guide means is also provided, said second guide means having a circular periphery and being rotatably mounted on the end of the shaft beyond the free end of the capstan, and said second guide means also being provided on its periphery with orificed means through which latter means the wire to be unreeled is also passed, and said second guide means is rotated in the same direction as the said ring by the application of a pulling force upon the said end of the wire.

3. In combination with a capstan having a cable coiled thereon, an annular cable engaging means slideably mounted coaxially upon said capstan, spring means to urge said annular means into cable engaging contact with said cable, and means to prevent kinking of the cable as it is drawn axially from the capstan comprising a first cable guide, a second cable guide, said guides being mounted adjacent each other and rotatable in a path concentric with the axis of said capstan.

4. In combination, a capstan having a conical wire storage surface, a base, and a top, an annular wire retaining ring mounted concentric of the axis of said capstan and movable along the axis thereof, spring means coupled between said base of said capstan and said annular ring, a first wire guide mounted adjacent said ring and rotatable in an annular path concentric with the axis of said capstan, and a second wire guide mounted adjacent said top of said cpstan and rotatable in an annular path concentric with the axis of said capstan.

5. Apparatus for preventing kinks in cable being pulled axially from a capstan while said capstan is being rotatably driven to coil additional cable on the surface thereof, comprising an annular ring slideably mounted in concentric relationship to said surface of said capstan, means for urging said annular ring into cable retaining engagement with said cable on said capstan, a first cable guide slideably mounted on said annular ring, and a second cable guide mounted adjacent said annular ring and rotatable in a path concentric with said annular ring.

6. An apparatus for reeling wire from a rotating horizontal capstan, said capstan having a base end, a free end, and a shaft and ribs extending between said ends and lying in a slightly conical surface to form a reel, annular guide means disposed about the capstan ribs, said guide means defining an annular peripheral channel, a ring member disposed loosely within said channel so as to be rotatable about said annular guide means, said ring member being provided with a guide loop on its outer circumference with said guide loop being adapted to pass wire therethrough, a second annular member disposed on said capstan for rotation about the axis of the capstan and also havinga guide loop whereby the wire reeled upon the capstan may be unreeled by passing the end of the wire first reeled upon the capstan through the guide loops when a pull is exerted upon the wire, said pull being in a direction to cause the guide ring and second annular guide member to rotate about the capstan in a direction opposite to the direction in which the capstan is being rotated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Voigtlander Oct. 5, 1943 

